SouLMan – Sound and Light Manipulation (GA 321122) is an ERC Advanced Grant awarded to Alessandro Tredicucci in 2012 with the goal of exploring the interaction between mechanical vibrations and photons in the THz spectral range. The project is hosted by CNR – Istituto di Nanoscienze at NEST and by the Physics Department of University of Pisa.
Originating from the topic of gravitational waves detection, the interaction between low frequency phonons and photons has been subject of intensive applied and theoretical studies since the beginning of the last century. The rapid technological advancements of the last years allowed for a rapid miniaturization of these so-called optomechanical systems, substituting the “mirror-on-a-spring” with mechanically actuable objects with sizes comparable with the electromagnetic wavelength itself. From optomechanical crystals to electromechanical superconducting LC resonators, cooling down the mechanical motion through radiation pressure these “macroscopic” systems have fully entered the quantum realm, where a new and exciting physics can be explored.
In the diverse optomechanical systems investigated so far, an important gap includes active electromagnetic systems such as lasers and the whole spectral range of the THz radiation. SouLMan main goals are the study of the optomechanical interaction in Quantum Cascade Lasers operating at THz frequencies.
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